Mississippi Bubble
About Mississippi Bubble
A financial bubble in France engineered by John Law, a Scottish financier. Laws Mississippi Company had exclusive rights to trade with French Louisiana and the Mississippi Valley. Shares rose from 500 to 18,000 livres in 1719. The bubble burst in 1720 when investors tried to convert paper money back to gold. Laws bank collapsed, destroying the French financial system. The resulting economic depression discouraged French paper currency for generations. John Law fled France disguised as a woman. The Mississippi Bubble demonstrated the dangers of tying currency to speculative assets.
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